Gov. John Lynch has yet to decide exactly what the future holds come January when his fourth term in office comes to an end. During a recent editorial board meeting, Lynch speculated he might teach some college courses and/or climb back into the business sector where he had once been a CEO.

Before his time is monopolized by any of this, we would like to suggest to the incoming governor, Maggie Hassan, that she consider keeping Lynch involved in state government. Specifically, we would like to see the governor as head of the state Board of Education or put in charge of an education task force. In either capacity, we see Lynch’s charge as helping the state as whole bring education into the 21st century.

During last week’s editorial board meeting talk turned to the failure to pass an educational funding amendment to the state constitution that would have nullified the state Supreme Court’s Claremont decisions and, in turn, allow state funds to be used where most needed.

As the discussion progressed, you could see Gov. Lynch’s passion for education boil to the surface. To simply say education has been a cornerstone of his administration does not do justice to his efforts.

The governor has long understood the need for an educated workforce. We saw it during his time as chairman of the University System of N.H. board of trustees before becoming governor. And it has been apparent since his first inauguration, leading up to being named earlier this fall as recipient of the first annual Walter R. Peterson Education and Public Service Award.

Lynch’s tenure has been one of working with the Legislature and businesses to make sure the state’s community college system is training students for the right jobs. It was a commitment he made in helping to bring Albany International to Rochester and what he predicts could eventually be 1,000 new jobs.

As the governor explains, it was the availability of the region’s educated workforce which tipped the decision of Albany to come to the Seacoast.

But Lynch’s commitment to education is only part of the reason we urge Hassan to make room for him in state government.

Lynch understands that educational excellence is not achieved simply by throwing around scarce tax dollars.

During the editorial board meeting, the governor dared suggest the state already spends enough money on the public school system, hamstrung by Claremont I and II.

He estimates the current price tag at $3 billion, through state and federal funding. But rather than bringing more dollars into the system, Lynch believes the state must do a better job of channeling current dollars to the appropriate places.

“There’s more than enough money in the system,” he said. “We don’t need to add more money.”

Without much prompting, the governor explained how some schools were already taking advantage of distance learning which allows college professors to teach advanced placement course to New Hampshire high school students, via the Internet. When asked about already tight budgets and the lack of up-to-date technology, he pointed out that it would be cheaper to give students iPads instead of text books — and more productive, we might add.

Clearly, too many of New Hampshire’s classrooms are stuck in a mid-20th century educational mindset. The notion of sitting 20-30 students (or often more) in front of a teacher who toils daily between walls of brick and mortar wall with quickly outdated textbooks is itself outdated. So, too, is the notion of approximately 100 stand-alone SAU offices around the state with their duplicate administrative coteries.

Struggling alone, we see little hope of revamping the state’s educational model in a cost-effective manner. But given some respected leadership, there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

To that end, we ask Hassan to bring Lynch on board to help lead Granite State schools into the 21st century.